Knights turned away by Titans

Friday

Jan 11, 2013 at 12:22 PMJan 11, 2013 at 12:29 PM

The Fieldcrest Knights girls’ basketball team played El Paso-Gridley tough through two quarters at home Thursday, but had no shield for the Titan’s offensive onslaught that began in the third quarter and eventually downed the Knights, 69-38.The Titans had four players in double figures.EPG (17-1, 8-0) never trailed in the game, but Fieldcrest played well through the first half, behind by just three points 19-16 after the first quarter and 34-24 at the half. But after the break, the Knights fought their way back, down just four points with 5:13 left in the third quarter.That would be as close as the Knights would get as the Titans then pulled away in the Heart of Illinois Conference game. Fieldcrest was outscored 16-9 in the third quarter and 19-5 in the fourth.The Knights suffered a serious blow when sophomore Tessa Holland, the high-scorer for the game with 16 points, fouled out with 4:57 left in the contest. Holland, who had one basket from beyond the arc, also had 10 rebounds for the Knights, whose record dropped to 12-6, 5-2.Junior Haley Ruestman added nine points and senior Leslie Hakes made one three-pointer. As a team, the Knights hustled for 28 rebounds, but had 17 turnovers.Rebekah Ehresman, Chelsea Kessinger and Codee Schlipf each contributed 14 points for the Titans, while Grace Murphy added 12 and Jenna Souhrada added 8, including two three-pointers.EPG’s field goal shooting was at 56 percent, with 31 rebounds and just eight turnovers for the game.In the junior varsity game, EPG won 46 to 36 over Fieldcrest.In contests played Monday, both teams came out on top.